The world has a lot of different standards for a lot of things, but I have never heard of a place with the default screw thread direction being opposite.
So does each language have a fun mnemonic?
Photo credit: https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Giy8OrYJTjw/Tfm9Ne5o5hI/AAAAAAAAAB4/c7uBLwjkl9c/s1600/scan0002.jpg
Yes, it’s true, you do. Left doesn’t really imply an up so much as it comes as a package with one, though. I’m not OP, but historically I had the same issue. I just didn’t automatically jump to “in is down, and I’m on the rim”, and instead was thinking about my actual physical left and right at that moment.
You don’t really need to visualize yourself on the rim, either. Just turn left in any context and you will trace the path of an anticlockwise circle. It’s really more about establishing why there’s a link between left and anticlockwise. Picture and remember whatever works best for you, I’m just annoyed by the people stubbornly insisting the link between them doesn’t make perfect sense.